Looking into the lectionary
15th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 18)
23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Matthew 18:15-20
September 6, 2026
What if we actually did what Jesus teaches his disciples about handling conflict?
This teaching on “dealing with sin in the church” immediately follows the parable of the lost sheep. In Luke, that parable is part of a “lost things” parables collection, alongside the lost coin and lost son(s), told strategically and deliberately to tax collectors and sinners who were open and eager and leaning in, and to grumbling Pharisees and scribes (Luke 15:1-2). Matthew only includes the parable of the lost sheep, and he uses it as a bridge connecting warnings to the disciples about the consequences of their sin and instruction on how they should respond when someone sins against them.
Remember, you are sinful, and God pursues you when you are lost.
Remember, when others sin and harm you, God loves and pursues them.
And … be wise.
In the simplicity of the teaching, Jesus corrects some of the most common behaviors of “good Christian people” when it comes to conflict.
Some of the more unconfrontational among us focus on the passage that immediately follows this one – forgive not seven but 77 (or 70 times seven) times – and spend our days attempting (and encouraging others) to “forgive and forget,” “love overlooks wrongs,” as though it is better not to acknowledge injustice or wrongdoing at all. The teaching in Matthew 18:15-20 does not ignore the sin that harms you, but addresses it head on, out of love.
The teaching in Matthew 18:15-20 does not ignore the sin that harms you, but addresses it head on, out of love.
Some of the more people-pleasing among us muster what feels like superhuman strength to tolerate wrong so severe that it can be rightly named abuse, effectively becoming doormats on which others may walk and wipe their boots. Jesus does not give a minimum bar for a sin that meets a standard of worthiness to address, but simply tells his disciples to address the one who has wronged you, and Jesus does not seem hesitant about getting others involved. Safe boundaries of increasing distance between someone who has been harmed and the offender is what Jesus is laying out, not shrugging harm away nor inviting the harmed to return for more.
What Jesus teaches, with such succinct clarity, is a pathway toward reconciliation and restoration. It isn’t easy, but it is clear.
Had Scripture included pictures or images, I think Jesus would get credit for inventing what we now know as flow charts. Here’s how it lays it out:
If a sibling (most commentators agree that this is instruction for conflict within the church) sins against you or wrongs you:
1. Talk to that person, one on one.
Do they listen?
Yes → Great! You’ve regained that one.
No → Shoot …
2. Try again, with one or two others.
Do they listen?
Yes → Great! You’ve regained that one.
No → Shoot …
3. Get the church involved.
Do they listen?
Yes → Great! You’ve regained that one.
No → Shoot …
4. Let that one, the offender, be to you as a Gentile and tax collector.
It sounds and looks clear, but two essential observations must be made about this passage, for it to be followed effectively and faithfully.
First, note the community aspect of every step following the initial attempt. Conflict is often personal and private, but conflict resolution, if not found quickly, should be communal. This idea is reinforced in the second half of the passage, about binding and loosing. Those verses are worthy of their own sermon and reflection, but they add to this picture of grace, forgiveness and discernment as group actions — every word in the second person in Matthew 18:18-20 are in the plural form. Indeed, where two or three are gathered in agreement, God’s Spirit is present.
But secondly, the end of the flow chart sounds unreasonably and uncharacteristically harsh, at first glance. Let’s say someone has wronged me in a relatively minor way, and I follow all the steps, as laid out in Matthew 18:15-20. I then cut them off?! I hate them?! They mean nothing to me?!
Well … no. I treat them “as a Gentile and a tax collector.”
Now if only I knew how Jesus thought we should treat, how he himself treated, Gentiles and tax-collectors…
Ah, I see. Of course. I do know, because all four gospels are full of stories and teachings of Jesus’ interactions with God’s beloved children who live with those labels.
He didn’t paint a large red G or T on their heads. He didn’t condemn them to hell. He moved toward them. He had dinner with them. He invited them to follow him. He loved them.
Sometimes they followed him. Sometimes they repented. Sometimes they got caught up in the beauty of Jesus’ life and mission. And sometimes, they walked away sad, or stayed behind, confused. Jesus couldn’t control their responses, which is instructive for us, as we seek reconciliation and restoration.
We can choose to follow Jesus’ conflict-resolution flow chart to a T, but we ultimately must release our expectation and desire to control how others respond.
Questions for reflection on Matthew 18:15-20
- What would it look like if we actually did what Jesus teaches his disciples to do when it comes to handling conflict in the church? Do you have friends, colleagues, church members who you can imagine inviting into this process?
- Do you need to release your desire for perceived control over how someone else responds to your faithful attempts at appropriate reconciliation or restitution?
- Do you find it freeing to be invited to treat someone “as a Gentile and a tax collector,” remembering how Jesus treated and loved Gentiles and tax collectors?
View the corresponding Order of Worship for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time.
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